Thinking about becoming a registered childminder - sorry if this has been done before!

[Missmibaby]

I'm thinking of becoming a registered childminder in Lewisham. I have a 4 yo who will start school in January 08 and a 7mth old. Does anyone have experience of registering or working as CM in Lewisham. Does anyone have any advice for me? I guess my questions are:

How many children can I look after in addition to my own?
How much should I expect to earn?
How long does it take to register?
Is there anything particular I would have to do with my home?

I've checked out the NCMA website and I understand that I need to complete a training course which is usually run by the local authority and I need to inspected by Ofsted before I register and then at regular intervals.

Your advice would be very gratefully received.

Hi I have just started the process of becoming a registered CM as I am about to be made redundant in my part time job... very scared at the moment as I have just turned down a full time job, but don't want to work full time and be away from my 2 year old 5 days a week... anyway, I went to a briefing session run by the local CMA (Kingston area), which was really helpful, there seems to be lots of support and they also run networking sessions etc... and they answered most of the questions I had. Good Luck!

Hi, the amount of children you can mind will depend on how much space you've got for them & how many of your own children you have. Generally it is no more than 6, with not more than 3 under 5 and not more than 1 under 1.
Your earning power depends on what you charge. You should be able to find out roughly what other minders in your area are charging from your local council.
Not sure how long it takes to get registered these days, I've been registered for 10 years and it was very different then.
The safety in the home bit is mostly common sense. Including locks on kitchen cupboards, lockable medicine cabinet, knives & sharp objects out of reach, lockable, high, solid garden gate.
First point of contact for you, is your early years team at your council. Good luck.

Thanks. I'm waiting for my Local Authority to get back to me re: training days.